Better Life
by Lilly Blitz
Summary: AU Lloyd is the new kid at school in Iselia. He'll meet new friends, enemies, maybe even his real father... PG13 for now. Many couples later on.
1. Back to Iselia

Better Life

By: Lilly Blitz

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. That's all I'm saying on that matter.

A/N: This is an AU, so the characters may be slightly OC. I'll try to keep them as close as possible. Also, their ages may be off. Just telling you now.

* * *

Chapter 1: Back to Iselia

A small blue car was driving down the highway. The driver was a small man with a large beard. His skin was a rich brown colour, a shade lighter than his air and beard. His small eyes were currently concentrating on the road as he was not the best driver in the world. A loud 'humph' in the backseat caused the man to sigh slightly.

A teenage boy was sitting in the backseat, his arms crossed and his expression annoyed. His hair was chocolate colour and slightly spiky. His eyes were an almost perfect mix of brown and red. He was wearing a simple red shirt and a pair of blue jeans, topped off with a pair of boots. Said boots were currently atop the passenger seat. All in all, Lloyd Irving was not a happy person.

"Now I know you aren't happy about moving, Lloyd," the driver sighed, "but it's the best thing for you."

"That's bullshit Dad!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Language son..."

"I mean, c'mon! You were doing fine on your own!"

Dirk made a left turn and sighed. He knew this was not going to be easy. They had been living in the same place ever since Lloyd was a little boy. But this was the best for both of them.

"Lloyd," Dirk tried again, "you need a proper education, and I can't give it to you."

"You were though!" Lloyd argued. "You said so yourself that I'm smarter than the average 16 year old."

"That may be true, but you need to interact with other people. You need to be other people; you can't spend your whole life as a hermit."

"You were doing that fine," Lloyd muttered.

Dirk sighed and gave up. He knew better than to argue with his son when he was in one of his moods. They had been living the woods and Lloyd had been home schooled. Than Dirk had gotten a wonderful job opportunity, making decorative weapons for rich folks. That meant, however, that him and Lloyd had to pack up their things and move.

"Where are we going, again?"

Dirk couldn't help but smile at that. Lloyd couldn't stay mad for long when he was curious.

"Iselia, my boy. It's where you were born, remember?"

Lloyd blinked, than a small scowl appeared. "Will _he_ be there?"

Dirk sighed, all smiles now gone. "I have no idea son. Your father could be there..."

Lloyd's scowl deepened. He knew that Dirk wasn't his real father. His mother, Anna, had left him with Dirk before she died from her injuries. Where she got her injuries from, Dirk had no idea. He also didn't know if Lloyd's father was alive or not. Dirk had told Lloyd the truth when he was old enough to understand. Somehow, Lloyd had gotten it into his head that his biological father had abandoned him and his mother, even causing those injuries to her. Those theories had subdued as Lloyd got older, but he still despised his real father.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Lloyd stated suddenly, "because you're my dad."

Dirk couldn't help but smile at that. "That I am son. No matter what happens, Ill always be your father."

* * *

The new house was a nice size. Not too big, but not small either. The house had three rooms, a kitchen and dining room, a living room and a bathroom. Lloyd stood outside with his dog, Noishe. Lloyd had gotten the dog as his 10th birthday present. Noishe was now a happy six year old collie that enjoyed chasing squirrels and digging up dirt.

Lloyd turned to his father, who was moving some boxes into the house. "Need a hand, Dad?"

Dirk rolled his eyes, though Lloyd couldn't see. "Of course I need some help. Get to work."

Lloyd moaned but helped his dad anyway. It was made difficult by Noishe running around them, causing them to nearly trip on the dog. It took a little bit, but they finished putting away all the stuff they had brought with them. Dirk was going back to pick up the furniture with a van, while Lloyd kept an eye on the house.

"So Lloyd," Dirk began. "Today and tomorrow, we get settled in, than the day after, you go to school."

Lloyd groaned, falling to the floor in the living room.

"No complaining," Dirk said sternly. "Now, be good and watch the house. The van's here and I'm going to get our furniture." With that said, he was gone.

Lloyd stayed on the floor, scratching Noishe's ear. From what he had seen, Iselia wasn't a that big of a city. Smaller than Lloyd thought, but still bigger than anything he had ever seen. He thought about going around the neighborhood and see if he could meet some people around his age. He decided against it; he'd meet people at school anyway.

"So boy, what do you think of this town?" Lloyd asked Noishe.

Noishe whimpered slightly and flopped onto the floor. Lloyd rolled his eyes and scratched his dog's stomach.

"Stupid dog," he said, not really meaning it.

He wasn't sure what to think. He hadn't wanted to leave his home; it was his home after all. On the other hand, his dad was offered a huge job and he wanted him to take it. But this was here he was born and where his real father might be.

He held up his wrist and looked at the chain there. There was a bright blue stone embedded on the chain. It was a keepsake of his mother's and he never took it off.

"Well Noishe," Lloyd said, getting up off the floor. "Time to get used to life in Iselia."

Even though he really didn't want to.

* * *

A/N: What did you think of the beginning? Good? Bad? Let me know!

I've never done an AU story before, and I hope I do a good job of it. I'm doing this story to try and get my creativity back so I can work on my Chrono Trigger fanfic again. As for romance, I'm not sure what I'll have the couples as yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be LloydCollette at the very least.

Please review!


	2. First Day of School

Better Life

By: Lilly Blitz

* * *

Chapter 2: First Day of School

Lloyd was staring up at the ceiling of the office. He was waiting for his timetable, than he would be going to his first class. He wasn't sure whether he should be happy or not.

The weekend had come and gone by too fast. Lloyd's mood had gradually gotten better. Now he wasn't too upset about moving anymore, but he still wished he was back home in the woods. He had spent the two days helping to move the furniture and visiting his dad's workplace. Lloyd was Dirk's apprentice and he would be helping during the weekend. He enjoyed crafting as much as his dad, and while he wasn't as good, he was getting better.

"Irving, Lloyd!"

Lloyd jerked out of his stupor and walked to the desk. The secretary looked at him coldly before thrusting his timetable at him. Lloyd resisted the urge to roll his eyes and walked out of the office.

Once outside, he wandered around aimlessly, looking at the timetable, he scanned this term's classes. He had World History, followed by Calculus. Lloyd liked history, but he despised Calculus. Still looking and getting bumped by people, he saw that after lunch, he had English, than ended it off with Chemistry. For Lloyd, English was a breeze, but Chemistry... He wasn't good at it, but Dirk insisted he take it.

Lloyd was concentrating so hard that he didn't notice a person right in front of him. Him and the other person collided, causing both of them to fall to the floor.

"Owww!" the other person whined. "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Lloyd resisted the urge to snap back at him. For all he knew, it could be some big 200 pound football player. Looking, he saw that it wasn't a 200 pound player. The person barely looked like they were 100 pounds.

The person was a smaller boy who had been carrying a ton of books. His hair was long, a snowy white colour. His eyes were a pale blue colour, looking almost like a pair of robin's eggs. He was wearing all blue: a blue T-shirt and blue shorts. He was currently scowling at Lloyd.

Clobbering someone smaller than himself wasn't something that Lloyd did. He grinned sheepishly. "Heh. Sorry about that. I was busy looking at my timetable."

The boy's scowl reduced to a frown. "Well, I guess it's okay than. But you really should watch where you're going. Next time, it could be one of those big apes."

Lloyd chuckled as he got off the ground. "I'm Lloyd Irving, junior." He stretched out his hand.

The boy looked at Lloyd's hand, grinned and took it. "Genis Sage, freshmen."

Lloyd looked at his timetable quickly. His first class was in room 214, but he had no idea where that was.

"Hey, you don't know where room 214 is, do you?"

Genis raised an eye. "Are you new or something?"

"Actually, yeah."

Genis grinned a little. "Oh... Well, just so you know for the future, every room is three digits and all the rooms upstairs begin with two."

"Got it, thanks!"

Lloyd made to run off, but Genis called out to him. "I'll come with you! My Geography class is nearby."

The two were walking and talking rather animatedly. From the little bit of time they talked, he learned quite a bit about Genis. Apparently, Genis was a genius. Though he was only a freshmen, he was taking some subjects at the senior level. Because of that, though, he didn't have too many friends. Lloyd was annoyed at that.

"Just because you're smart? Well, people who can't accept that are stupid!"

"A lot of people are like that," Genis said sadly.

"Well, a lot are people are stupid than!"

Lloyd couldn't help but smile. He had found a friend already. So what if he was younger? That didn't matter.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of room 214. Genis parted with a few words.

"It's lucky you came in only a few days into term. Any longer and you would've been in trouble."

"Thanks a lot," Lloyd said dryly. "Well, I hope to see you again."

"No problem. You'll probably see me at lunch anyway." Genis turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh! And about this teacher. She's really good and can you teach you some amazing stuff. Just don't goof off or piss her off and you'll be fine."

"Yeah? Whose the teacher?"

Genis grinned widely. "My sister." And with that, he ran off to his class.

Lloyd gaped after Genis. His sister was a teacher here? If she was anything like her brother, this could get interesting.

Walking into the class, Lloyd noticed that most of the seats were already taken by various students. A bunch of girls squealing made Lloyd's attention turn to the front of the class. A lot of girls were crowded around a single desk. The occupant of the desk was a guy with pinkish-red hair. Lloyd thought it looked almost funny. The guy had a smug look on his face and he seemed to be telling the girls a very interesting story; they were all staring up at him and his dark blue eyes.

Lloyd spied an empty seat beside a girl. She was staring at the red haired guy with disgust. He walked up to her.

"Hi. Is this seat taken?"

The girl looked surprised. "Huh? Oh, no. Go ahead."

Lloyd thanked her and took a seat. Lloyd pulled out all the stuff he needed for the class and glanced at the clock. Still a few more minutes until class started.

Lloyd decided to observe the girl in the desk beside him. She looked a bit tomboyish, with her violet top and black jeans. Her purple hair was done up in a ponytail, but a lot of it was still untamed. Her eyes looked a lot like Lloyd's, only there was more brown in hers.

Lloyd also noticed that the girl was looking at him too. "You're new here, right?" she asked.

"Right. I'm Lloyd."

The girl nodded. "Sheena."

"So whose that pompous moron?" he asked, pointing to the guy in the front.

Sheena smirked a bit. "You think so too? Nice to hear that. A lot of guys think he's cool, or some stupid thing."

"No way," Lloyd exclaimed. "I know a phoney when I see one."

Sheena chucked. "I think I like you already. That's Zelos Wilder. He thinks he's better than most of the school 'cause his family's rich. Makes me sick."

Lloyd glanced up just in time to see Zelos laughing loudly. His fan club followed shortly after. He could see that guy would be a pain. Best to avoid him if Lloyd could.

Lloyd and Sheena talked quietly before class started. Sheen didn't talk much about herself, but she seemed interested in Lloyd's dad's work.

"He makes decorative weapons? Does he make real ones too?"

"I don't know," Lloyd admitted. "He probably could, but that would cost a lot. The decorative weapons are expensive already."

"Damn," Sheena muttered. "I don't have that kind of money. I've always wanted to have my own weapon, you know?"

Lloyd was about to reply, but the door opened. The woman who stepped in could only be the teacher, Professor Sage. She looked a lot like her younger brother. Both had the same delicate facial features and the same white hair. They also had the same ice blue eyes. She was wearing a red blouse, matched with a red skirt. She was carrying a black briefcase

"Good morning class."

Various people offered their greetings to the professor. She pulled a few files from the briefcase and set them on her desk.

"We have a new student here, Lloyd Irving," she announced, gesturing to Lloyd. Most of the class glanced at Lloyd for a second before turning their attention back to Professor Sage.

"Now, I want all of you to open your textbooks to page 16 and read until 23. Do the questions at the end. After, if we have time, we will-"

The door opened and a young girl rushed in, but not before stumbling slightly. She looked up at the professor with large eyes. "I-I'm sorry Professor Sage. I wasn't able to-"

"It's alright Collette," Professor Sage said kindly. "Please take your seat. Now, as I was saying, afterwards, if we have time..."

Lloyd wasn't paying any attention to the professor; he was too busy looking at the girl, Collette, who had taken a seat near him. She was a blond, but her hair wasn't a plain yellow, it looked like gold and streamed down her back. Her wide blue eyes were looking around; she looked so innocent. She was wearing a white dress with black leggings, but there were a lot of blue and gold decorations on her dress. Lloyd thought she looked like one of those china dolls: pretty, but very fragile.

"Hey Sheena," Lloyd whispered. "Whose that girl?"

Sheena followed Lloyd's glance to Collette. Right now, Professor Sage was with Collette, telling her what instructions she had missed.

"Collette?" Sheena asked. "I don't know. No one really knows her. All I know about her is that she's late and is sick a lot. A lot of teachers don't like her, but Professor Sage is really nice to her. And speaking of the Professor, you better be quiet, she's got really good hearing."

Lloyd didn't speak after that and went about with his reading. While he did the questions, however, he couldn't help but glance at Collette. Collette was always smiling, as if she was perpetually happy. Lloyd also noticed that a few kids, mostly girls, would point at Collette and snickered under their breaths, until the professor walked by. Lloyd didn't like that, she had done nothing wrong; as far as he could tell anyway.

As it turned out, Professor Sage discussed the lesson with the class, asking them to answer various questions. Lloyd was just hoping he wasn't called on.

No such luck. "Mr. Irving? Can you tell me the reason why the War of 1625 happened?"

Lloyd breathed a soft sigh of relief; one he knew. "It was caused because Palmacosta assassinated Meltokio's prince. Meltokio retaliated and that began the war."

"Very good Mr. Irving," the Professor replied, a slight smile on her face. She turned to the front. "Mr. Wilder. Can you tell me when the peace treaty was signed that stopped the War of 1625?"

Zelos blinked stupidly. It was obvious he had no idea what the answer was. "Wouldn't it be in 1625?" He smiled charmingly at Professor Sage.

There were few snickers from the class, Lloyd and Sheena. Anyone else knew the answer. Professor Sage just sighed. "I'll see you after class, Mr. Wilder, to discuss extra homework." That wiped away Zelos' smile.

The bell rang and people started stuffing things into their bags. Over the commotion, Professor Sage called out. "The only thing for homework tonight are those questions. Have a good day."

"We got off lucky," Sheena told Lloyd. "She usually hands out a lot of homework. Whoa! That's a lot of books!" The last comment was made to Lloyd's almost bursting bag.

"Yeah, I got all my books from the office and I haven't had time to go to my locker yet. Heck, I don't even know where it is, so I'll have to go at lunch."

Sheena nodded. "What class do you have next? I have Physical Education."

Lloyd grimaced. "Calculus."

"Ooh, tough. Well, see ya later Lloyd." Sheena waved and made her way through the crowd going out the door.

Lloyd lifted his bag to his shoulder and stumbled backwards. He felt something against his back.

"Oh!"

Lloyd turned around to see who had bumped in to. It was Collette and all her books were on the floor. She was on the floor, trying to gather them. Lloyd bent down and helped her.

"Sorry about that," Lloyd said after Collette had all her books back. "This bag is really heavy and I couldn't stop from hitting you."

"Oh, it's okay,"" she said brightly. "I should have been watching were I was going, anyway."

"Uh, right..." Lloyd felt a little awkward. He had no idea what to say to her. She was looking at him like a scientist would at an interesting specimen.

"You're Collette, right?" Lloyd said lamely. He winced mentally; that sounded so stupid.

Collette just smiled more brightly. "Yep! That's me! But I don't know who you are..."

"I'm Lloyd. I just came here today."

"Ohh, you're new here? That's so cool!" She looked at the clock. "Uh oh, I have to get going, I've got Music and it's on the other side of the school. Bye Lloyd!" She ran off, her books clutched tightly in her hands.

Lloyd stared after her. She was a little strange, but he had to admit that she was cute. Clearing his mind, he looked at his timetable to see where Calculus. Room 133, and he hand no idea where that was. Groaning, Lloyd set off in search of his next class.

_I hope the teacher decides to be nice to me because I'm the new student. There's no way I'll make it there in time. _He sighed. _This is one thing I'll hate about going to school; I'll always have to be on time._

* * *

Lloyd had indeed been late for his Calculus, but the teacher had taken pity on him and he didn't get detention. But just as Lloyd predicted, he didn't like Calculus, but made it through okay. Now he was trying to find his locker.

"Locker 1232... Here!"

Turning the combination, the lock snapped open and he shoved his History and Calculus textbooks into his locker. He had asked someone in his Calculus class where the cafeteria was; it was downstairs. Lloyd made a dash to the cafeteria; he was starving.

The cafeteria was a large room with pale white walls. There were a lot of people there, most eating, talking and laughing. Lloyd went to stand in line for the food. When it was his turn, he got some sort of meat and potatoes. He wasn't too sure what it was, but he was hungry enough not to care.

While trying to find a place to sit, he heard a familiar voice. "Lloyd! Over here!"

Lloyd saw Genis waving at him from a table farthest from the serving line. Lloyd gladly took a seat near him.

"Man! This place is packed!" Lloyd exclaimed, digging into his food.

Genis looked a little disturbed at Lloyd's eating habits, but shrugged it off. "So how was my sister, Raine?"

"Not bad," Lloyd replied. "She's really good at teaching, I felt like I learned something. Not like that guy Zelos."

"My sister talks about him a bit," Genis said thoughtfully. "She had him when he was a sophomore. She says he's actually really smart, but he doesn't try hard at all."

"Doesn't look too smart," Lloyd muttered quietly so that Genis didn't hear.

"So what do you think of this place? Think you'll like it?"

Lloyd looked around the cafeteria. He saw Zelos entertaining his usual number of fans, than to Sheena, who was talking to a few girls, all of them laughing slightly. Than he saw Collette; she was talking to a smaller girl, who looked like a freshman. Collette was talking rather energetically and the other girl just nodded. Lloyd smiled, he didn't know why, he just did.

"Yeah. I think I'll like this place."

* * *

A/N: So, how was that? Did you all like that? Please go a little easy on me as this is my first ToS fanfic.

**impatient:** How was that? Fast enough for you. Hope you like this chapter!

**Kaimara:** Glad you liked it. And I hope you like this too!

**angel:** Well, if you think about, Lloyd did have to move. Most younger people wouldn't be too happy about it. Don't worry, he's mellowed out a little bit.

**Lord Cynic:** See above for explanation of Lloyd's behavior. I'm a fan of Lloyd/Collette too, that's why I did this fic. And... interesting with "keeping an 'eye' on it." Hehe.

**MoonCannon:** This long enough. And no, it wasn't a selfish request. If I hadn't decided on Lloyd/Collete, I might have taken Lloyd/Sheena into consideration. But the plot of the story focuses on both Lloyd and Collette and what they go through. Sorry about that.

Thank you for the reviews and I hope to see some more. Ta for now!


	3. Professor Aurion

Better Life

By: Lilly Blitz

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Chapter 3: Professor Aurion

If Lloyd had talked to Genis at the end of school instead of lunch, he would have given a different answer.

English was, just as he thought, easy. The class was spent reading and then answering a few questions. Lloyd could have fallen asleep if he wanted to. Unfortunately, the bell rang and his would be nap was interrupted.

He was able to find his last class, Chemistry, easier that his Calculus. He had gotten Genis to tell him where his English and Chemistry classes were. He stopped by room 116 and looked at his timetable, making sure he was right. He was and he made to enter, but someone was entering at the same time and they collided.

Lloyd reached for his textbook and was thinking of what he would be yelling at the person when he noticed who it was. It was Colette.

"Oh! Hey Colette," Lloyd said, feeling slightly awkward.

"Oh Lloyd!" she exclaimed, picking up her textbook. "I'm really sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"It's okay," Lloyd assured her. "I wasn't really paying attention either." He gestured to the class. "You taking this class too?"

"Yep!" Colette smiled. "It's my favourite class! Professor Aurion is so nice to me!"

Lloyd just nodded and followed Colette inside. A lot of other kids were there already, all getting out lab equipment. Lloyd raised an eyebrow and turned to Colette. "What's this?"

"We're doing an experiment today," Colette replied, putting her books down. "Don't worry, the experiment is on page 24. It's really easy."

Lloyd hoped she was right and took a seat on the other side of the room. The girl beside him smiled and asked if they could be partners. Lloyd was surprised, but nodded. "But why ask me? I'm new."

"Which is why I want to be your partner," she responded. "You'll need the help. Even though it's easy, the professor is really picky to detail and he doesn't cut new kids any slack."

Lloyd didn't like the sound of that, but helped her take out the equipment. He glanced across the room and spotted Colette. It looked like there was no one who was going to be her partner. That upset Lloyd and he was about to go and ask Colette if she wanted to join them when the door open.

Professor Aurion was not what Lloyd would have expected as a science teacher. He was a tall, young man with hair quite similar to Lloyd's, only it was a red shade and his eyes were a light brown. He was wearing a lab coat.

"Good afternoon class." His voice was quiet, but it commanded a lot of respect. "I want you to start the experiment as soon as you can. It should only take 45 minutes, then spend the rest of the class working on the report. Mr. Irving, I'd like a quick word with you."

Lloyd had no idea what the professor wanted, but complied with the request. Professor Aurion was looking him over.

"You're new here, but I'm sure you can catch on quickly. The experiment is an easy one. Just make sure you talk to a few of the others after to catch up on what you have missed. I'll be coming by to check that your experiment is going well."

Lloyd didn't know why, but the teacher's tone sent a wave of dislike through him. But he nodded and said, "Yes sir," before heading back to his spot. His partner was looking at him with interest.

"First day and he's already given you a talking to."

"Not something I wanted," Lloyd muttered, grabbing a lab coat from the wall.

The experiment was a simple one. They simply had to add hydrochloric acid to different metals and record the reaction between the two. Lloyd and his partner had decided to take turns adding the acid and recording. Lloyd's partner went first and he watched, the pen poised. It was really easy.

When it was his turn, however, Professor Aurion came off to take a look. Lloyd was about to add the acid to a magnesium strip when he heard, "Mr. Irving, you are about to add too much acid."

Lloyd almost dropped the dropper. Professor Aurion was giving him a look. "You need to pay close attention to detail, especially when using acid." He turned to a different pair.

Lloyd scowled at him. "What's his problem? It's diluted. It's not that deadly."

His partner just shrugged. "Professor Aurion is always like that. He just wants to make sure we pay attention to what we do."

Lloyd grumbled slightly, but put the excess acid back into the beaker.

If it had only happened once, Lloyd wouldn't have been too upset, but it didn't happen once. Every time Lloyd would be the one adding the acid, Professor Aurion would be waking by, giving him rather unwelcome advice. After the fourth time, even Lloyd's partner was looking shocked at the professor's attitude.

"That's not like him; he doesn't do that. And that last time shouldn't have made a difference!"

Lloyd felt miserable; the teacher was already out to get him. He didn't like Chemistry to begin with and this guy was making it worse. Maybe he'd switch classes?

Lloyd looked up from the observations; his partner was adding the acid to copper. He saw Colette writing on a piece of paper, all her equipment gone. His mouth nearly dropped. She was already done!

He looked at the copper, than wrote down the observation. "Colette's good at Chemistry, huh?"

His partner looked up at Colette. Her nose wrinkled. "Yeah, she is, but that's because she's a teachers' pet. No one wants to be her partner; I certainly wouldn't be."

Lloyd glared his partner when she wasn't looking. If he was still in this class, he would work with Colette. She seemed pleasant, what was everyone's problem?

Finally, they were finished and Lloyd started on the report. He looked at Colette, only to see she was looking at him. She blushed, but grinned and waved a little. Lloyd grinned as well, but that was all. He didn't want Professor Aurion to get on his case anymore.

He had gotten a little over a quarter done when the bell rang. Before anyone moved, Professor Aurion stated, "Reports will be handed in day after next. Marks will be taken off for late ones. Have a good day."

Everyone stuffed their things into their bags, Lloyd being one of the fastest. He didn't want to stay any longer. He was one of the first out the door, but not before he noticed the teacher giving him a strange look. Lloyd had no idea what that look could mean, but at the moment, he didn't care. He just wanted to get home.

* * *

"So, how was school Lloyd?" 

Lloyd was helping Dirk get dinner ready. Neither men were great at cooking, but they got through. Lloyd placed the chicken on the table and went to grab plates.

"It wasn't bad. But why did you make me take Chemistry, dad?"

"Because if you have Chemistry, you have more opportunities in this world. The class can't be that bad."

"The class isn't the problem, it's the teacher. He has it in for me already and it's only the first day."

Dirk gave his son a searching look. "You didn't do anything, did you Lloyd?"

"No," Lloyd said, getting a little defensive. "He just kept pointing out every little mistake I was going to make, even though some others were making bigger ones than me."

Dirk couldn't say anything to that. Some people could be extremely unfair, even the teachers. "Well," he finally said, "all I can say is try not to let him get to you. I'm sure he'll lay off you soon."

"I hope so," Lloyd muttered.

"Well, besides Chemistry and the teacher, how was the rest of the day?"

Feeling a little better, Lloyd recounted the rest of his day. If he thought about it, the day wasn't bad, it was just the last class and the teacher. Besides, he had met a lot of interesting people and that was better than anything he could think of.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the wait. But when you have spring cleaning, the flu and you have to fight for writer's freedom of speech, time does get taken up. 

About the couples. Lloyd/Colette is going to be one, but it is one of the only ones that will be given. I want you, the reader, to vote for or against Sheena/Zelos and/or Genis/Presea. The story can work with or without those relationship, but I want you readers to pick. And if there are any other couples you can think of, let me and I'll see. There will be a couple others that I need in a realtionship, but other than that... Oh, and no pairings with Kratos. He has to be alone for this story. Sorry

Onto the reviews!

**For my last two reviewers:** Remember, patience is a virtue. I'll keep writing, but it will take time. Thank you for hanging in there. (I'd actually put the names, but symbols don't show up. So for all you anonymous reviewers, pleae don't put symbols in your name! Thank you!)

**Mandy:** Thank you! And I will try.

**Dracobolt:** Thank you for pointing that out! I will make sure I do not make those mistakes again. And hope you like this chapter.

**Lord Cynic:** Hehe, I don't think Colette could make a hole in the floor, unless it was shoddy work. Thank you for the review!

Hope to see you next time and I hope you all enjoy!


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